Ic card for authentication and a method for authenticating the ic card

ABSTRACT

An IC card includes a first visible layer including a natural material having a unique visual pattern. A storage device is configured to store a digital reference image of the unique visual pattern to be visually compared with the unique visual pattern for authentication. An authentication method based on the IC card is also provided.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an IC card for authentication, and to amethod for authenticating the IC card. More particularly, a naturalmaterial is associated with the IC card for authentication.

The IC card involves a biometric feature originated by a naturalmaterial or by an artificial element, and the following description ismade with reference to this application field for explanation purposes.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A natural material can be associated with an IC card for authenticationand identification. In this respect, a publication titled “SmartBiometrics for Trust and Convenience,” Eurosmart, December 2010,discloses biometrics for authenticating and securely identifying, whiletaking in consideration several aspects, such as electronic ID, accesspasses, payment, and information such as emails and database records,and important paper documents, for example.

The above publication further mentions inanimate objects and evenartificial objects among entities in which biometrics can be applied.Any “natural phenomenon for elements whose characteristics are chaoticand measurable” is defined as a biometric object. According to othersources, natural phenomena not related to a biological material may havedifferent designations, e.g., physical unduplicated features (cfr. IEEE10.1109/ICASSP.2011. 5946831).

A product, known as Prooftag™, uses air bubbles for authentication. Thisproduct overcomes the drawbacks of prior art authentication methods byusing randomly generated air bubbles for authentication, which is uniquein its form factors. Prior art authentication methods are based onmass-produced, and consequently, mass-reproducible methods.

However, Prooftag™ itself has several drawbacks. During the phase ofauthentication, each bubble tag is associated with a unique identifierstored in a database of a system operator. An Internet connection tosuch a database is required for any authentication, and theauthentication cannot be executed if the connection is not available.

Another drawback of Prooftag™ is that it is configured to be attached toa product or to an IC card, and the attached tag can be detached duringthe delivery of the product, i.e., before the authentication of theproduct. In fact, the detached tag can be associated with anotherproduct if the consumer buying the first product did not perform orcomplete the authentication process. Moreover, a tag attached to an ICcard makes the surface of the IC card non-planar and protruding withrespect to the. surface.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an IC card and a methodfor authenticating the IC card with a remote connection not beingrequired for an authentication, and with a natural material orartificial object being used to identify the IC card where no protrusionor detachable problems arise. This allows for a counterfeit resistantcard product, and overcomes the drawbacks that currently affect theprior art methods and IC cards of this kind.

This and other objects, features and advantages are provided by couplingan IC card to a sample of a biometric object or natural material havinga graphical layout or appearance that is visually distinguishable withrespect to other samples, even with respect to a sample of the samebiometric object or natural material. This is due to the unique patternof each sample. In this manner, the sample of the biometric object ornatural material is inlaid or embedded within a card layer or surfaceand cannot be detached from the IC card. A digital image of the sampleis stored in the IC card chip at production.

When the IC card is exhibited, the digital image may be read orpicked-up from the chip through an IC card reader and then displayed sothat the unique pattern of the digital image may be compared to theunique pattern of the sample coupled or associated with the IC cardsurface for a visual comparison and authentication. Advantageously, theIC card cannot be duplicated starting from another sample of the samenatural material or from samples of different materials.

The IC card may comprise at least a first visible layer reporting orproviding a natural material or a biometric element, and a memoryportion storing inside the IC card a reference image of the firstvisible layer to be visually compared with the first visible layer forauthentication.

In other words, the IC card may comprise a first visible layer includinga natural material, and a memory to store a digital reference image ofthe first layer. The digital reference image may be visually comparedwith the first layer for authentication.

In all of the possible embodiments for a visible layer, such a visiblelayer may include any surface that may be seen or detected by a naturaleye or an image detector.

The natural material of the first visible layer may be selected from agroup including wood or leather or stone or any natural material showingor defining a pattern or vein which may be visually compared with apattern or vein displayed with the digital reference image. The displaymay be through a reader device of the IC card, for instance.

The term visual comparison includes an automatic comparing system basedon an image detector or an equivalent detection.

A second protective layer may be provided on a surface of the firstvisible layer, for example, a plastic covering layer. A transparentlayer may be further arranged on a counter disposed surface of the firstlayer for further protection. The transparent layer may allow inspectionof the natural material within the first visible layer.

The IC card may further comprise a third layer arranged on a portion ofthe second layer or transparent layer, including a picture of the firstvisible layer. For example, the picture may be a downscaled image of apartial or an entire surface of the first visible layer, and isadvantageously used for comparison with the first visual layer and/orwith the digital reference image displayed on the IC card reader.

The picture in the third layer may be monochrome and include veining ofthe first visible layer. This allows the user to focus on some specificpatterns of the natural material, corresponding to the grayscale ormonochrome, for a better comparison.

Storing of the digital reference image may be done by an IC chip, a barcode, a 2D code, a magnetic band or an optical band. The digitalreference image may be encrypted by an IC card issuer from the image ofthe first visible layer and stored in an encrypted format.Advantageously, the encryption of the reference image may be associatedwith the pattern considered as unique identification information of theIC card, since no samples with identical patterns are available.

The digital reference image may be digitally signed by an IC card issuerfrom the image of the first visible layer, and stored in an encryptedformat in the IC card.

Another aspect is directed to a method for authenticating an IC cardthrough an authentication apparatus, where the IC card may include afirst visible layer comprising a natural material, and a memory forstoring a digital reference image of the first visible layer. The methodmay comprise the steps of reading the digital reference image with theauthentication apparatus, scanning the first visible layer, comparingthe digital reference image with the scanned image of the first visiblelayer, and authenticating the IC card if the scanned image issubstantially identical to the digital reference image.

Again, a visible layer is intended to include any surface that may beseen or detected by a natural eye or an image detector. The term visualcomparison is intended to include an automatic comparing system based onan image detector or an equivalent detection.

The digital reference image may be displayed on the display device ofthe authentication apparatus for visual authentication.

The method may comprise retrieving the reference image, scanning thefirst layer into a sample image, comparing the retrieved reference imagewith the sample image, and authenticating the identity of the card ifthe sample image is determined to be substantially identical to theretrieved reference image.

The method may further comprise storing the reference image in thememory portion of the authentication apparatus after encrypting thereference image with a first key of the card issuer. The step ofretrieving the reference image may comprise decrypting the referenceimage stored with a second key, and the second key may be associatedwith the first key.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further advantages and features of the method, the device, and the mediastorage according to the present invention will be apparent from thedescription given below for explanation purposes and without limitingthe scope of protection.

FIG. 1A schematically represents a top view of an IC card forauthentication according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B schematically represents a front view of the IC card of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A schematically represents a top view of an IC card forauthentication according to a second embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2B schematically represents a front view of the IC card of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3A schematically shows a top view of an IC card for authenticationaccording to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3B schematically represents a front view of the IC card of FIG. 3A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitutepart of this application, illustrate different embodiments of thedisclosure and together with the description serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure.

The method steps hereafter described do not form a complete flow of theprocess for the manufacturing of integrated circuits. The techniques formanufacturing the integrated circuits currently used in the field, andcommonly used process steps necessary for understanding the integratedcircuits are included in the description.

The figures showing transversal sections of integrated electronic deviceportions during the manufacturing are not drawn to scale, but areinstead drawn to show important characteristics.

With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a schematically represented IC cardfor authentication includes a natural material or a biometric elementcomprising a graphical pattern which is substantially impossible toreproduce artificially, even by use of the same techniques that form thebasic sample of the natural material or the biometric element. In otherwords, the natural material and graphical pattern may be considered as aphysical unclonable function or PUF, which is a function that isembodied in a physical structure and is easy to evaluate but hard topredict.

FIG. 1A is a top view of the IC card and FIG. 1B a front view. The ICcard includes one or more visible layers 100 including the naturalmaterial, and a memory 110 for storing a digital reference image of thelayer including the natural material. The memory 110, for instance, maybe a chip, a bar code, a 2D code, a magnetic band or an optical band.The memory 110 may be a non-volatile memory portion or the same chipincorporated into the IC card including an embedded non-volatile memoryportion.

For a visible layer, it is intended to include any surface that may beseen or detected by a natural eye or an image detector. This is validfor all the embodiments disclosed herein. Without limiting the scope ofthe present invention, the following description is given with referenceto an IC card with a chip for storing the digital reference image.

The digital reference image is an image of the natural pattern of layers100 and is used to authenticate the IC card through an authenticationdevice or IC card reader, as explained below. The digital referenceimage is stored in an encrypted form in the IC card, and is read by theIC card reader and therein decrypted. The decrypted image is displayedon the IC card reader to be visually compared with the natural patternon the top side surface of the IC card.

However, one skilled in the art may imagine a comparison based on animage detector that does not require a visible display of the decryptedimage as is necessary for humans.

Referring to FIG. 13, the layers 100 comprise at least a first layer140, a second layer 150 and a transparent layer 130. The first layer 140comprises the natural material selected from a group including, forinstance, wood, stone or leather.

Advantageously, the natural material or biometric element is inlaid inthe first layer and does not protrude from it. In other words, thenatural material or biometric element is located in at least a cardportion where no protrusion or detachable problems arise.

The natural material constitutes the first layer. For example, the firstlayer is a sheet of wood with a size substantially corresponding to asize of an IC card 7816 compliant, which is inlaid within further layersof the IC card. The second layer 150 serves as a supporting layer forthe first layer 140, and the transparent layer 130 serves as aprotective layer of the first layer 140. In one embodiment, the firstlayer 140 is a hard material and no transparent layer 130 is providedfor protection.

An IC card issuer takes a picture of or scans the image of the firstlayer 140, and saves the scanned image in the IC chip 110 as a referenceimage. The image is preferably signed or encrypted by a key before beingstored in the IC Chip 110.

Both a non-symmetric encryption scheme and a symmetric encryption schemecan be used. If a non-symmetric encryption scheme is used, the referenceimage is encrypted with a private key owned by the IC card issuer. Then,when the authentication is performed by an authentication apparatus, thereference image may be decrypted with a public key before comparing thedigital reference image displayed on the authentication apparatus withthe image of the first layer 140. The image of the first layer 140 isscanned by an optical device of the authentication apparatus. The publickey is associated with the private key.

If a symmetric encryption scheme is used, the digital reference image isencrypted with a secret key only known to the IC card issuer and theauthentication apparatus, or only known to the IC card issuer thatperform authentication remotely. Then, when the authentication isperformed by the authentication apparatus, the digital reference imageis decrypted with the same secret key before comparing the digitalreference image with the image of the first layer 140.

Since the pattern formed in the first layer is natural or naturallygenerated, it is almost impossible for a forger to reproduce the samepattern artificially without scanning or taking picture of the patternof the first layer 140 and without using an artificial material. Thatis, the forger cannot counterfeit the same IC card unless he retains thesame IC card. Moreover, even if he obtains the same IC card and gets thepicture of the pattern of the first layer 140, he cannot collectinformation concerning the signed digital reference image which isstored in the IC card 110. Therefore, the security of the IC card isfurther enhanced by the IC chip and the natural pattern of the firstlayer.

In case wood is used as the material of the first layer, the graphicalpattern may include the veining of the wood 190. In FIG. 1A, the veiningis drawn as a simplified version since the veining of wood has a morecomplex structure. Advantageously, using natural material formanufacturing the IC card is more environmentally friendly than plastic,and thereby reduces the pollution caused by an excessive use of plasticmaterials.

FIG. 2A schematically shows the top view of the IC card forauthentication according to another embodiment, and FIG. 2Bschematically shows the corresponding side view. The IC card compriseslayers 200 including a visible layer including a natural or naturallygenerated pattern. The IC card further comprises a memory 210 forstoring a digital reference image, for instance, an IC chip, a bar code,a 2D code, a magnetic band, or an optical band. The IC chip 210 storesthe digital reference image corresponding to the graphical pattern ofvisible layer. The digital reference image is used to authenticate theIC card by an authentication device. More particularly, the digitalreference image is stored in an encrypted form in the IC card and isread and decoded by an IC card reader, to be decrypted and compared withthe image or pattern of the visible layer.

Referring to FIG. 22, the layers 200 may comprise a first visible layer240, a second layer 250 and a transparent layer 230. The IC chip 210 maybe inserted in the transparent layer 230 or in another layer. The firstvisible layer 240 comprises, as in the previous embodiment, a naturalmaterial such as wood, stone, leather, etc., having a pattern whichcannot be reproduced artificially and which can advantageously be usedto univocally identify the IC card. The second layer 250 servers as asupporting layer for the first layer 240, and is preferably made of amaterial protecting the first visible layer 240 placed therein.

The transparent layer 230 serves as a protective layer of the firstvisible layer 240. The IC card comprises a third layer 220 arranged on aportion of the transparent layer 230 and includes a picture of the firstlayer. Particularly, the third layer 220 may have a downscaled image ofa partial or an entire surface of the first layer 240. The ratio for thescale is predetermined and known only to the IC card issuer and theauthenticate apparatus.

In this respect, the scale ratio is used as a further security measure,since a forger needs to discover the exact scale ratio to counterfeitthe IC card. In a similar way, coordinates of an area of the first layer240 in which the picture is taken are used as further security measure.That is, the coordinate of the area of the first layer 240 is not knownto anyone except the IC card issuer and the authenticating apparatus.

A user can easily check the IC card by comparing the pattern of thefirst visual layer with the pattern of the picture of the third layer220. The authenticating apparatus further compares the picture of thethird layer 220 with the pattern of the first visual layer 240.

Preferably, the IC card issuer takes a picture or a scanned image of thefirst visible layer 240 and saves the image into the IC chip 210 as adigital reference image. The image is preferably signed or encryptedbefore being stored in the IC chip 210. Also in this embodiment, both anon-symmetric encryption scheme and a symmetric encryption scheme can beused.

Since the pattern in the first visual layer is naturally generated ormade by a biometric element, it is almost impossible for the forger toreproduce the same pattern artificially without scanning or takingpicture of the pattern of the first layer 240, and without using anartificial material. Thus, the forger cannot counterfeit the same ICcard unless he retains the IC card. Even if he has the same IC card inhis hands and gets the picture of the pattern of the first layer 240, hecannot retrieve information concerning the signed reference image storedin the IC card 210. Therefore, the security of the IC card is furtherenhanced by the IC chip and the natural pattern of the first visuallayer.

Also in this embodiment, wood may be used as natural material of thefirst visible layer and the veining of the wood 290 forms the uniquepattern.

FIG. 3A schematically shows a top view of an IC card for authenticationaccording to a third embodiment, and FIG. 3B schematically shows acorresponding front view. The card comprises a body 300 and a firstvisual layer 320 including a natural material such as wood, leather,stone, etc., which is inlaid into a first portion of the body 300. TheIC card further comprises means or a memory for storing a digitalreference image, which is arranged in a second portion of the body 300.

According to this embodiment, the pattern of the natural material doesnot cover the entire area of the IC card but only a portion of the ICcard. Scanning or taking a picture is performed on the first layer 320.The scanned image is compared with the digital reference image stored inthe IC card 310 for the authentication. Various schemes of encryptioncan be used as explained in the previous embodiment.

Advantageously, the invention can enhance the security of an IC cardusing the naturally formed pattern of the natural material, such aswood, and storing the image of the pattern in advance as encryptedinformation in the IC card. The picture of the pattern is duplicated ina different scale and attached on a surface portion of the IC card forvisual comparison between the image of the whole IC card and the pictureattached at a portion of the IC card.

1-12. (canceled)
 13. An IC card comprising: a first visible layercomprising a natural material having a unique visual pattern; and astorage device configured to store a reference image of the uniquevisual pattern to be visually compared with the unique visual patternfor authentication.
 14. The IC card according to claim 13, wherein thenatural material comprises at least one of wood, leather and stone. 15.The IC card according to claim 13, further comprising: a second layer ona bottom surface of said first visible layer; and a transparent layer ona top surface of said first visible layer, with the top surface beingopposite the bottom surface, and with said transparent layer comprisingplastic to protect the top surface of said first visible surface. 16.The IC card according to claim 15, further comprising a third layer on aportion of said second layer or said transparent layer, with said thirdlayer comprising a picture of the unique visual pattern.
 17. The IC cardaccording to claim 16, wherein said picture is a downscaled image of atleast a portion of the unique visual pattern.
 18. The IC card accordingto claim 16, wherein said picture comprises a monochrome picture thatincludes veining of the unique visual pattern.
 19. The IC card accordingto claim 13, wherein said storage device comprises at least one of an ICchip, a bar code, a 2D code, a magnetic band and an optical band. 20.The IC card according to claim 13, wherein the stored reference image isencrypted from an image of the unique visual pattern.
 21. The IC cardaccording to claim 13, wherein the stored reference image is digitallysigned from an image of the unique visual pattern.
 22. The IC cardaccording to claim 13, further comprising a body, and wherein said firstvisible layer and said storage device are inlaid in said body.
 23. An ICcard comprising: a first visible layer comprising a natural materialhaving a unique visual pattern; a storage device configured to store areference image of the unique visual pattern to be visually comparedwith the unique visual pattern for authentication; a transparent plasticlayer on a top surface of said first visible layer; and a picture of atleast a portion of the unique visual pattern on a portion of saidtransparent layer.
 24. The IC card according to claim 23, wherein thenatural material comprises at least one of wood, leather and stone. 25.The IC card according to claim 23, further comprising a second layer ona bottom surface of said first visible layer, with the top surface beingopposite the bottom surface.
 26. The IC card according to claim 23,wherein said picture is a downscaled image of at least the portion ofthe unique visual pattern.
 27. The IC card according to claim 23,wherein said picture comprises a monochrome picture that includesveining of the unique visual pattern.
 28. The IC card according to claim23, wherein said storage device comprises at least one of an IC chip, abar code, a 2D code, a magnetic band and an optical band.
 29. The ICcard according to claim 23, wherein the stored reference image isencrypted from an image of the unique visual pattern.
 30. The IC cardaccording to claim 23, wherein the stored reference image is digitallysigned from an image of the unique visual pattern.
 31. A method ofauthenticating an IC card through an authentication apparatus, the ICcard comprising a first visible layer comprising a natural materialhaving a unique visual pattern, and a storage device to store areference image of the unique visual pattern, the method comprising:reading the stored reference image with the authentication apparatus;scanning the unique visual pattern to generate a scanned image;comparing the stored reference image with the scanned image; andauthenticating the IC card if the scanned image matches the referenceimage.
 32. The method according to claim 31, further comprisingdisplaying the stored reference image on a display of the authenticationapparatus for visual authentication.
 33. The method according to claim31, wherein the IC card further comprises a second layer on a bottomsurface of the first visible layer; and a transparent layer on a topsurface of the first visible layer, with the top surface being oppositethe bottom surface, and with the transparent layer comprising plastic toprotect the top surface of the first visible surface.
 34. The methodaccording to claim 33, wherein the IC card further comprises a thirdlayer on a portion of the transparent layer, with the third layercomprising a picture of the unique visual pattern.
 35. The methodaccording to claim 34, wherein the picture is a downscaled image of atleast a portion of the unique visual pattern.
 36. The method accordingto claim 34, wherein the picture comprises a monochrome picture thatincludes veining of the unique visual pattern.
 37. The method accordingto claim 31, wherein the stored reference image is encrypted from animage of the unique visual pattern.
 38. The method according to claim31, wherein the stored reference image is digitally signed from an imageof the unique visual pattern.